Background information:
Due to the widespread use of sodium bicarbonate (commonly called baking soda) in many food products, the thermal decomposition reaction has been studied extensively by food chemists. Baking soda is used to prepare cakes in order to insure that cakes “rise” as they bake. As the temperature of the cake batter reaches approximately 50oC, the baking soda decomposes and carbon dioxide is released. The use of baking soda is especially popular in pancakes and waffles since the high cooking temperatures of 350-450oF (175-230oC) cause the carbon dioxide to be liberated before the dough has set. Thus, the batter rises before it sets, and we get a light and tasty finished product.
NaHCO3, baking soda, breaks down to form sodium carbonate (solid), water (liquid), and carbon dioxide (gas). The unbalanced reaction is written below:
NaHCO3(s) --> Na2CO3 (s) + H2O (g) + CO2 (g)
Problem #1:
In order to proceed through this task – you need to balance the equation of the decomposition of baking soda.
Write your balanced equation.
Problem #2:
You need to determine how much baking soda you will need to start with in order to produce 2.50 grams of sodium carbonate. Show all of your work – neat and organized please.
Problem #3:
When this reaction was completed in a lab – only 2.25 grams of sodium carbonate was actually produced. What was the percent yield? Be sure to label the actual and theoretical yields. Show all of your work – neat and organized please.
I'm having issues with problem 2 and 3. any help is appreciated i need to turn this in or i fail
Sure, I can help you with problems 2 and 3. Let's start with problem 2.
Problem #2 asks you to determine how much baking soda you will need to start with in order to produce 2.50 grams of sodium carbonate. To solve this problem, we need to use stoichiometry, which is a method that relates the quantities of reactants and products in a balanced chemical equation.
The balanced equation for the decomposition of baking soda is:
2 NaHCO3(s) → Na2CO3(s) + H2O(g) + CO2(g)
From the balanced equation, we can see that 2 moles of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) produce 1 mole of sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). We can use this information to set up a conversion:
2 moles NaHCO3 = 1 mole Na2CO3
Now we need to convert moles of sodium carbonate to grams. The molar mass of sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) is 105.99 g/mol.
1 mole Na2CO3 = 105.99 g Na2CO3
Since we want to find the amount of baking soda needed to produce 2.50 g of sodium carbonate, we can set up the following proportion:
(2 moles NaHCO3 / 1 mole Na2CO3) = (x grams NaHCO3 / 2.50 grams Na2CO3)
Solving this proportion, we can find the value of x by cross-multiplying and dividing:
(2 moles NaHCO3 * 2.50 grams Na2CO3) / (1 mole Na2CO3) = x grams NaHCO3
Calculating this expression will give you the amount of baking soda in grams that you need to start with in order to produce 2.50 grams of sodium carbonate.
Now let's move to problem 3.
Problem #3 asks you to calculate the percent yield of the reaction if only 2.25 grams of sodium carbonate were actually produced. The percent yield expresses the efficiency of the reaction by comparing the actual yield to the theoretical yield.
First, we need to determine the theoretical yield, which is the amount of sodium carbonate that should have been produced according to the balanced equation. From problem 2, we calculated that the amount of baking soda needed to produce 2.50 grams of sodium carbonate is the theoretical yield.
Now, we can calculate the percent yield using the following formula:
Percent Yield = (Actual Yield / Theoretical Yield) * 100
In this case, the actual yield is given as 2.25 grams, and the theoretical yield is the value we calculated in problem 2.
Substituting the values into the formula and performing the calculation will give you the percent yield of the reaction.
I hope this helps you with problems 2 and 3. Good luck with your assignment!